Cushioning device for marine propulsion



P 1930. A. F. MASURY 1,755,549

CUSHIONING DEVICE FOR MARINE PROPULSION Filed July 15, 1926 5Sheets-Sheet l E] save/14b1, ALFRED fi'MAsz/RY April 22, 1930. A. F.MASURY CUSHIO NIN G DEVICE FOR MARINE PROPULSION Filed July 15, 1926awuewcoz ALF/v50 FMASl/RY April 1930- A. F. MASURY 1,755,549

cusmonme nsvxca FOR MARINE PROPULSION Filed July 5. 1926 6 Sheets-Sheet3 awuwntozm ALFRED fin/450m April 1930- I A. F. MASURY' 1,755,549

CUSHIONING DEVICE FOR MARINE PROPULSION Filed July 15, 1926 5Sheets-Sheet 4 April 22, 1930. A. F. MASURY 1,755,549

CUSHIONING' DEVICE FOR MARINE PROPULSION Filed July 15, 1926 5Sheets$heet 5 Jig Z,

Patented Apr. 22, 1930 mural) ISITATES P TEN oFFics ALFRED r MASURY,ornnw YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO THE RUBBER SHOCKINSULATOR CORPORATION, 017 wnmmero v, DELAWARE, A

CORPORATION OF DELAWARE CUSHIONING DEVICE FOR MARINE PROPULSIONApp1ication filed July 15,

This invention relates to cushioning devices for power units andassociated parts for marine use.v As is well known, a vessel in a seawayis subjected to avariety of stresses and strains since its foundation isunstable and forever shifting and changing, impressing sudden stressesand strains upon the fran'ie and planking which result in momentarydistortions of the hull. Thus there occurs variations in the alignmentof the propeller shaft bearings and other supporting elements of thepower units which result in wear and strain on the parts. Furthermore,the vibrations of the engine when in operation are normally transmittedto the hull causing inconvenience to the occupants of the vessel andhaving a deteriorating effect upon the structure. .Screw propellers arenot ordinarily symmetrical in every detail, each blade varying to somedegree from. the

thers and differing therefore in its pitch and thrust and thereby havingits own characteristic. As the propeller revolves each blade does adifferent amount of work on the water and, therefore, in operation a newcenter of the rotating mass is found which is also a 'tlected by thestatic and dynamic balance of the propeller. At speeds of 300 to lOOrevolutions per minute this tendency of the propeller to seek a newcenter is not marked but when the speed of the propeller shaft reaches2,000 to 3,000 revolutions as is quite common, for instance, in sometypes of pleasure and racing boats, the tendency of the propeller tofind its own center causes the propeller shaft to whip and impressesgreat strain on the bearings. The present ihvention seeks to provide acushioningsupport for the prime mover, propeller shaft and associatedparts adapted for use in any type of marine conveyance which shallpermita degree of variation inthe hearings or supports resulting fromdistortion of the hull or distortion of the propeller shaft and whichshall cushion or absorb vibrations and preventtheir transmission inwhole or in part to or from the vessel structure. Accordingly yieldingor resilient devices are interposed between the prime mover andassociated mechanisms and the various propeller shaft 1926.= Serial No.122,528.

bearings and supports and the hull of the vessel. H v I In order thatthe invention may be-clearly understood and'readily carried into effectthe same willj noiv bedescribed in greater particularity in connectionwith a preferred embodiment thereof which is illustrated in theaccompanying drawings wherein Figure 1 is a view in side elevation ofsomuch of the hull of a vessel as is necessary to an understanding of theinvention parts being broken away to show the cushioning supports forthe prime mover and propeller shaft. v

FiguresZ, 3 and 4 are views showing 'variations occurringjin thefoundation or supporting-media of avessel in a seaway'tending to inducedistortion of-the hull,

Figure 5 is a view in side elevation showing yielding or resilientsupports for the prime mover of the vessel. I

Figure 6 is a transverse sectional view taken in the plane indicated bythe line 66 in Figure 5, looking in the direction of the arrowsandshowing details of the cushioning supports shown in Figure 5.

Figure 7 isa view on an enlarged scale of one of the cushioningconnections shown in Figure 5, looking from. the right in Figure 6.parts beingbroken away in the interest of clearness. I i

Figure 8 is a View in plan and partly in section showin theinterposition .of the cushioning connectlon between the propeller shaftbearing and the hull. I

Figure 9 is a vertical sectional view taken in the plane indicated bythe line 9-9 in F igure 8,1ooking inlthe direction of the arrows andshowing in detail; the cushioning connections for the propeller shaftbearin Figure 10 is spun view showing one of the stuffing boxes for thepropeller shaft.

. Figure 11 is an end view looking from the right Figure IO'an d showingthe stuffing box.. I t. a

Figure 12 is a-view in side elevatijgn and partly in section showing one,ofthe cushioning supfiort'ffor one of the struts supporting thepropellershaft outside the hull.

Every vessel in'fa ,seawexisdistfrted to.

some degree due to the fact that the medium in which it floats isunstable and forever shifting and changing during sudden stresses andstrains upon concentrated portions of its anatomy. 'jEorjiinst-ance, inigure 2,.there is illustrated a boat a balanced onthe crest of a wave a;with its ends suspended or unsupported. In .this position the hull meetswith what is lgnown ahogging strain since the weight of the forward andafter portions have lost the supporting buoyancy of the water while themiddle portion carries all the support and the stresses and strains aresubstantially equivalent .to .those :of a lever or beam weighted at itsends and fulcrumed at a point therebetween. Figure '3 shows a. boat a inthe hollow of the wave which causes a sagging .strain such as wouldoccur in a beam supported at its ends and supporting a Weight. at somepoint therebetween. In Figure 4 there is illustrated in somewhatexaggerated manner the bulking strain to which the boat a is subjectedwhen the forward half is lifted out of the water and about to strikethe'next wave. The shearing force. in this instance, maybe likened tothat of a cantilever beam which is supported at one end and carries aweight on the unsupported end. In addition, when driven obliquelyagainst the seaway a long narrow hull is subjected to twisting strainsand in all these cases there is a constant additional distortion of theframe and planking which cannot be prevented in the construction of avessel.

It is not customary to machine the propellers of boats to true lead andpitch. In consequence there is never the same effort on each blade andthe propeller has a tendency to seek its true running center. This truerunning center. because of the difference in balance, lead and thrust ofeach blade, differs from the theoretical center for which the balancesare originally laid out and as a result whenever the propeller is turnedthe shaft attempts to assume its normal position and if the bearingshave no capacity for movement strains and stresses are set up on thestruts of the hull and the .propeller shaft tends to whip between thepoints of support.

Further, the engine as originally anchored to its engine bed, impressesvibrations thereon which are annoying and detrimental.

, T he present invention seeks to overcome the aforementioneddisadvantages by the interposition of yielding or resilient devicesbetween the hull and the propeller shaft and prime mover wherebyvibrations or distortions maybe absorbed in great measureand notimpressed-upon the co-opera'ting elements. The. legs orpadsb of theengineb are shown in Figures 5, 6 and 7 as bolted as at b tobronze,longitudinally extending brackets 4 along either side pf theengine which-termi- --n a te' -in outwardly extending arms ayielding-l-ysu'pported in all directionsfrom ahous hull where the shaftleaves the interior.

are retained -.within a two part housing comprising the main portion (Zand the cover portion which'are bolted together as at (Z to exert apredetermined degree of compression upon the rubber whereby itsmolecular activity may be increased in the interest of longer life.wearing qualities and resiliency. The propeller shaft bearings withinthe hull which are indicated in general at g in Figure 1 are shown indetail in Figures 8 and 9. The shaft h is shown as turning within ballbearings 5 supported in a transversely extending casting havingoutwardly extend ing arms 7" formed at their ends with opposed seats j jengaged. in the illustrated embodiment, by blocks of yieldingnon-metallic material retained within separable housings Z support-ed,say, from a rib a of the vessel.

Here again the yielding-non-metallic material may be retained under thedesired degree of internal static pressure by the clamping action of thehousing sections Z, Z effective through the bolts Z or if yieldingnon-metallic material is not availed of metallic springs may besubstituted. In Figure 1, stuffing; boxes are illustrated at m, m,respectively, the first at a bulkhead a and the second in the Ordinarilythe stuffing box m is bolted directlv to the bulkhead and the shaftpasses through the bulkhead within. say, a copper tube n. the usualpacking nut 0 and lock nut 72 be ing disposed well within the interiorof the vessel. In the present instance, the flange 7): on the end of thestuffing box is embedded within or engaged by an internally groovedannulus q of yielding non-metallic material which engages the bulkhead aand the inwardly turned flange n of the copper tube n and is retained inposition by a clamping ring 7* through the medium of the bolts 7-. Herethe, annulus .not only serves as a cushioning supportforithestuffing-box but also effectively seals the joint between the bulkheadand the flange.

@utwardly of the hull the propeller is shown as supported from aplurality of struts S. S and S the strut S at the extreme end adjacentthe propeller 6 being, if desired,

of 'V-shape as is common in the art. The shaft ft is supported in theusual way in a ljbearing 8 carried on the end ofthe upwardly extendingshank s", but tl 1e shankinstead of being secured outwardly ofthe hullextends inwardly thereof through a grummet if sealed and cushioned by anon-metallic ring u. At its upper end the shank is also T form and theenlarged port-ion s is engaged by yielding non-metallic material aseated against displacement upon a plate 20 positioned upon the base 3of the housing which is bolted to the ribs i) and maintained under thedc sired degree of compression by a separable cap 3 secured as by thebolts 3 to the base portion In Figure 12 the planking of the hull isindicated at l and uprights between the ribs to support the deck areshown at 2, the base 1 being supported in desired position by means ofblocks 4, 4 some of which may be separated from the planking 1 by thecanvas and white lead seals 5.

It will thus be seen that a construction has been provided wherein allstresses and strains impressed either upon the hull or upon the primemover and its associated parts are cushioned or absorbed and preventedfrom transmission to co-operating elements in order that a certaindegree of distortion may be permitted without effecting wear of themoving parts of the vessel or of the connections.

arious modifications may be made in the configuration and composition ofthe instrumentalities as a whole availed of for cushioning and nolimitation is intended by the phraseology in the foregoing descriptionor illustrations in the accompanying drawings except 15 indicated in theappended claim.

\Vhat is claimed is:

In combination with the hull of a vessel and prime mover, flanges formedalong the sides of the prime mover, channels extending substantially thefull length of the engine, formed with rigid arms and secured to theflanges, separable housings carried with the hull and having open sides,respectively, thrtmgh which the arms enter, yielding;- nonmetalliematerial retained within the housings and engaging the ends of the armsand bolts securing the parts of the housings together and retaining theyielding nonmetallic material under compression.

This specification signed this 12th day of July, A. D. 19:26.

ALFRED F. MASURY.

